1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to synthetic derivatives of pseudopterosin and their use in the treatment of inflammation and pain. More particularly, the present invention involves the discovery that certain specific ether derivatives of pseudopterosin are useful pharmaceutical agents which are especially effective in reducing inflammation and pain.
2. Description of Related Art
Caribbean gorgonians (O. gorgonacea, Ph. cnidaria) are a diverse group of marine animals which are commonly known as sea whips and sea fans. A wide variety of Caribbean gorgonians are found in abundance in the shallow-water reefs of the West Indian region. A few of the Caribbean gorgonians have been analyzed for their chemical content and found to be a source of many diverse organic substances such as steroids, prostaglandins, lactones, sesquiterpenoid derivatives and diterpenoid metabolites. Some of these substances have been found to be biologically active.
Since only a small percentage of the total number of Caribbean gorgonian species have been examined for natural chemical products, there has been a continuing effort by a number of researchers to examine additional gorgonian species in order to isolate possible novel natural chemical compounds. Pseudopterogorgia is one type of gorgonian that has been studied extensively in an effort to isolate and identify potentially useful pharmacologically active compounds, As a result of this effort, a group of naturally occurring diterpenoid glycosides have been isolated and identified. This isolated group of diterpenoid glycosides are commonly referred to as pseudopterosins. Over ten different pseudopterosins have been isolated from Pseudopterogorgia. Only a few of these naturally occurring pseudopterosins have been shown to have pharmaceutical activity. These active pseudopterosins have been used exclusively as anti-inflammatory and/or analgesic agents.
In addition to the naturally occurring pseudopterosins, a number of synthetic pseudopterosin derivatives have been prepared. Some of these synthetic pseudopterosins were also found to be pharmacologically active. They are described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,745,104 and 4,849,410 which were issued on May 17, 1988 and Jul. 18, 1989, respectively. These two patents are owned by the same assignee as the present invention.